Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

BBC: Ofcom

Baroness Benjamin: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that Ofcom’s regulation of the BBC is enhanced in the next five years.

Baroness Barran: The government established Ofcom as the BBC regulator to ensure the BBC is robustly held to account as the nation's broadcaster. Ofcom is independent of the government and the government has no say over Ofcom’s operational decisionsHowever, the Mid-Term Review of the Royal Charter offers an opportunity for the government to consider whether current governance and regulatory arrangements for the BBC are working effectively, including the effectiveness of the regulation by Ofcom. We will start the preparations now, ahead of the review starting formally next year, as the Royal Charter sets out.

Television Licences: Finance

Baroness Hoey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money in each of the past five years was raised by the BBC licensing fee; how such fees were collected; and what was the (1) total collection cost, and (2) average cost per fee of collection.

Baroness Barran: The BBC is responsible for the collection and administration of the television licence fee, not the government. The government is therefore not involved in TV Licensing operations.TV licencing sets out the amounts collected within it’s annual review. The 2020/21 report is due to be published.The total income raised by the TV licence fee is stated as being £3.78bn in 2016/17, £3.8bn in 2017/18, £3.6bn in 2018/19 and £3.5bn in 2019/20.The total collection cost is stated as being £82.2m in 2016/17, £101m in 2017/18, £102.6m in 2018/19 and £119.5m in 2019/20.The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not hold information on the average cost per fee of collection. This information may be held by the BBC.

BBC: Finance

Baroness Hoey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the level of government funding to the BBC in each of the last five years for (1) the BBC World Service, (2) BBC MediaAction, and (3) other funding streams; and what decisions have been made, if any, to provide the BBC with funding to replace EU payments that will or have ceased.

Baroness Barran: Since 2016, the FCDO has funded the World2020 Programme which has established 12 new language services and provided enhancements to existing services. The FCDO provided the following funding to the World Service: £34.2m for 2016-17; £85.6m for 2017-18; £85.8m for 2018-19 and 2019-20; and £87.2m for 2020-21.BBC Media action sets out the levels of government funding within its annual review. They are reported to be £17.8m in 2016/17, £9.3m in 2017/18, £8m in 2018/19 and £10.3m in 2019/20. The 2020/21 report is due to be published.As part of the UK's withdrawal from the EU, the UK will no longer be participating in the vast majority of EU programmes, and the Government has chosen to look at other ways of supporting the UK sectors.The BBC sets out its full funding streams within its annual accounts.

Football: Gambling

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to theannouncement that the Belgium Gambling Commission will be running a gambling awareness campaign during this summer’s UEFA European Football Championship, what plans they have to advertise gambling support services during the tournament.

Baroness Barran: All gambling advertising, wherever it appears, is subject to strict controls on content and placement. The Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising also requires social responsibility messaging throughout the length of all broadcast gambling adverts. This includes the begambleaware.org link, which signposts to a wide range of advice and support related to gambling. Since 2019, the GambleAware-led Bet Regret campaign has encouraged awareness of risky betting behaviours and action to help regain control, as well as signposting to further support. Since June 2020, members of the Betting and Gaming Council have also committed 20% of their advertising on TV and radio to safer gambling messaging.The government launched the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 on 8 December with the publication of a Call for Evidence. As part of the wide scope of that Review, we called for evidence on the effectiveness of safer gambling messaging, and we are considering the evidence carefully.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Hedges and Ditches

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current rate of removal of hedgerows by (1) housebuilders, and (2) farmers.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The Government does not have an up to date assessment of hedgerow removal but is committed to protecting hedgerows, and other field boundaries, and the habitats they provide. Hedgelink, a partnership supported by environmental, farming and heritage organisations, has estimated that between 1984 and 1990 the length of hedgerows in Great Britain had declined by about 23%. The Countryside Survey 2000 indicated that by 1998 this decline in the length of hedgerows had been halted. Legal protection for hedgerows is provided by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997 which prohibit the removal of countryside hedgerows without first seeking approval from the local planning authority. The authority is required to decide whether a hedgerow is “important” according to the criteria in the Regulations and should not be removed. Although there is local variation, research has indicated that, nationally, over 70% of hedgerows in England and Wales are 'important'. The Regulations therefore play a valuable role in providing statutory protection for a large proportion of hedgerows in the countryside. When granting planning permission, a local authority has the power to impose enforceable planning conditions on a developer in order to protect hedges or trees assessed as being worthy of retention, which might otherwise be harmed by construction or the new land-use.

Hedges and Ditches: Carbon Capture and Storage

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the value of hedgerows in carbon capture.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: A Defra-funded review in 2014 by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology illustrated the ability of hedges to store and accumulate significant amounts of carbon both above and below ground. The value of hedgerows in carbon capture was shown to vary with hedge structure, woody species and age. Tree lines were shown to be particularly impactful. Separate analysis by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has looked at the existing agricultural hedges in England and estimated a total carbon stock of 9 million tonnes. There is potential to increase this carbon stock in England through hedgerow creation and reducing hedgerow removal. This is reflected in Defra’s ongoing “Delivering Clean Growth Through Sustainable Intensification” project. The total potential carbon savings from hedgerow creation in England, based on a high ambition scenario, are estimated at 100,000 tonnes CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) over carbon budget 4 (2023–27) and 300,000 tonnes CO2e over carbon budget 5 (2028–32). This equates to a total of 696ha and 2262ha of grassland converted to hedgerows in carbon budget 4 and in carbon budget 5 respectively. Future work should focus on gathering more empirical data on the carbon stock of hedgerows, including below-ground carbon stocks.